The functional regulation of the orexin system in the central nervous system is closely related to the occurrence and development of psychotic disorders. Abnormal changes in the lateral region of the hypothalamus are associated with the comorbidity of depression and physical symptoms, and how the traditional Chinese formula Xiaoyaosan regulates these changes may reveal aspects of the pathogenesis of depression. This study aimed to establish a rat model of depression in order to examine changes in Orexin A/OxR1 expression in the lateral region of the hypothalamus and the effects of Xiaoyaosan. Sixty specific pathogen‐free (SPF) male healthy Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were used in the experiment and randomly divided into the control group, the model group, the Xiaoyaosan group and the fluoxetine group. The depression model was established by 21‐day chronic immobilization stress (CIS). Food intake and body weight were recorded, and the sucrose preference test (SPT) and open field test (OFT) were used to evaluate the model. Then, the expression of Orexin A/OxR1 in the hypothalamus was measured by ELISA, Western blot and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) analysis. The expression of Orexin A and OxR1 in the lateral hypothalamic area was significantly down regulated in the model group, compared with the control group. Xiaoyaosan significantly reversed these changes with obvious curative effects. Abnormal changes in Orexin A/OxR1 in the lateral hypothalamic area of rats with depression caused by chronic stress are closely related to the pathogenesis of depression accompanied by physical symptoms. Xiaoyaosan can improve depression accompanied by physical symptoms by regulating Orexin A/OxR1.

Context: BushenHuoxue decoction (BSHXD) is a Chinese medicine prescription, which is composed of nine Chinese medical materials, used to treat osteoarthritis (OA).Objective: This study develops sensitive and convenient LC-MS/MS methods to analyze chemical components from BSHXD, and assess the anti-inflammatory activities thereof.Materials and methods: The chemical composition from BSHXD water extract was qualitative analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS). Twelve reference compounds were analyzed by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Anti-inflammatory activities of target components were assessed by ELISA at 20 and 100 μg/mL.Results: It is the first time that 88 compounds were qualitatively identified from BSHXD, of which 12 with potential in treating OA according to the literature were quantified. Within BSHXD the contents of quercetin, isopsoralen, icarisideII, osthole, and isoimperatorin increased remarkably compared with those in single herb which make up BSHXD, the contents were 0.1999, 0.4634, 0.0928, 0.5364, and 0.1487 mg/g. ELISA data displayed that BSHXD and the five compounds mentioned inhibited the expressions of TNF-α, IL-6 and NO released from LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cell, with maximum inhibition rates of 104.05% (osthole, 100 μg/mL), 100.03% (osthole, 100 μg/mL), and 93.46% (isopsoralen, 20 μg/mL), respectively.Discussion and conclusion: Content changes of 12 compounds in BSHXD and single herbs which comprise the prescription were measured and analyzed. Contents of five compounds increased may be explained by solubilization between drugs and chemical reaction. ELISA results reported that the increased contents of the five compounds could inhibit expression of the inflammatory factors.

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